As It Seems
by ArwenLalaith
Summary: Lux had sought out her birth mother, only intending to see her the once...she didn't expect to end up in a new home with two mothers, a half-brother who believed in fairytales, and a whole town full of craziness. Co-written with Confetti Leaves.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: If you're familiar with the show _Life Unexpected _(which you totally should check out if you aren't because it's adorable), you'll recognize the character of Lux. If not, you will be as the story goes on. This isn't technically a crossover because it's set exclusively in the OUAT universe, with OUAT characters, with the exception of Lux.**

* * *

When the knock on the door sounded early in the afternoon, Henry had a moment of panic that his mothers had come home early and in his rush to hide the _Halo _game he wasn't supposed to play, he knocked over the soda he wasn't supposed to drink.

Thankfully, it was neither of them – so hopefully he could figure out how to clean up the spill before it stained. Instead, he found a teenaged girl standing there, scuffing her boots against the cement step.

"Is your…mom or aunt or… Is Emma Swan here?" She brushed her messy blonde curls behind her toque-covered ears (the same blonde curls, Henry noted, that Emma had).

"Who are you?" he asked after a moment of studying her, deciding she definitely wasn't from Storybrooke.

"I asked you first," she retorted, a little immaturely, quirking an eyebrow.

"She went out," he shrugged. When she didn't reciprocate by answering his question, he asked again, "So, do you have a name?"

"Lux," she replied shortly. "Is she gonna be home soon or what? 'Cause, I kinda need to talk to her."

"Don't know. There's a town hall meeting or something. But you can hang out here and wait. You can play _Halo _with me." He moved to pop the disc back into his Xbox before she'd even answered.

The look she gave him was a little skeptical; she was trying not to relate to the look of sheer eagerness at the idea of having a companion to play with him. "Aren't you not supposed to let strangers inside if you're home alone?"

"It's Storybrooke," he replied, as if that made it obvious. "I'm Henry," he introduced, returning to the foyer where she still stood rooted to the spot. When she didn't seem inclined to come any further inside the house, he asked, "Why are you looking for my mom?"

Lux set her faded messenger bag on the floor, but kept a sheaf of papers clutched protectively in her hands, and scrutinized the boy, judging him to be fairly close to her age. "Emma Swan is…your mom?"

"One of them." He seemed to miss the questioning look she shot him. "How do you know her?"

"Just genetically," she said quietly, thoughtfully. He looked confused by her reply, so she explained, "She's kind of my mom too…"

Henry's eyes widened in excitement, "Hey, cool! So, that makes you like my sister!"

"Yeah, awesome," Lux said, voice making it clear she wasn't particularly enthused by that revelation. "Look, I really need to talk to her; my emancipation hearing is the day after tomorrow and I need her signature."

"Isn't that like divorcing your parents?"

She raised a brow. "Yeah, sort of, I guess. Except I don't have parents – I'm getting emancipated from foster care."

"Why didn't you get adopted?

"That's not really your business. I can't get emancipated until I get her signature because she never signed a release of parental rights, so she's still legally my mother. And I am done with bouncing around crappy foster homes with mouthwash drinking moms and dads who try to hit on me. Not that you'd know what that's like since she kept you."

"Actually, I was put up for adoption too…she had me while she was in jail. But I was adopted by my other mom and then I went to look for her and…"

That did nothing to calm her. She interrupted, "Yes, well, at least you got adopted and had a real family. At least she actually put in some effort to be in your life. You have _no_ idea how good you have it." He looked a little hurt by her tone, but she was trying hard not to let it quench her anger.

"So, do you want to play video games with me?" he asked after a long pause, "I'll have to find my other controller, it doesn't get used much."

"Aren't you worried about it killing your brain cells?" she retorted.

"That's what my mom says," he grinned in a way that implied he was breaking the rules, then hurriedly added, "My _other_ mom, not…our mom."

Before she could answer, he'd already scampered up the stairs to his room in search of the controller and Lux took advantage of the solitude to gauge her mother's new life. It was a damn sight better than foster care, that was for sure.

Henry returned, thundering down the stairs like a herd of elephants, not with a controller, but with a very large brown book. "I had a better idea!" he exclaimed with glee. "I'm going to tell you about our mom…"


	2. Chapter 2

If she'd had a thousand guesses, the last thing Emma would've predicted was waiting for her and Regina upon returning home from the (most painfully dull) town meeting would be the daughter she'd given up for adoption sixteen years ago.

And, possibly for the first time ever, Regina was stunned to a lack of words as she looked between Emma and her teenaged doppelganger and drew the obvious conclusion.

Emma had hurriedly did what the girl asked and sent her on her way, then faked an emergency that required her immediate attention at the sheriff's station so as to avoid having to have the inevitable discussion with Regina that would require a whole lot of grovelling for forgiveness for keeping such a big secret.

She had delayed going home that night as much as she possibly could, hoping to postpone that conversation for as long as possible. Not that she made a habit of keeping things from her girlfriend (or so she told herself), but this was going to be an extremely uncomfortable talk to be had and she really wasn't in the mood for it.

Like ever.

Which is why she hadn't brought it up before now. Uncomfortable conversations were not her thing. That and the fact that she had really thought she didn't need to worry about this particular adoptee boomeranging back into her life. (Of course, she'd also thought that about Henry, until proven otherwise…)

Apparently, she was destined to be that girl whose teenaged pregnancies inevitably came back to bite her in the ass.

She doubted Regina was pleased. _Again._

But it was now 11:30 at night and she'd ran every errand she could think of, over-stayed her welcome at her parents, and missed dinner. So, she had no choice but to face the wrath waiting for her at home.

With flowers in hand, she tiptoed into the dark foyer of the manor and slipped off her boots so as not to wake her sleeping son. She could see the faint light flooding out from the study where displeased words and disapproving looks were waiting and reluctantly headed towards it.

Looking appropriately sheepish, Emma kissed Regina's cheek – or rather, she tried to before Regina leaned back and out of reach, staring her down – and set the flowers in her lap, then before the tirade could begin, she effused, "I know, I should've told you sooner and I'm _so_ sorry I didn't and I'm even more sorry that _this _is how you found out."

Regina looked slightly mollified by the gesture of apology, but only slightly. "I should think so. I don't know why I'm surprised really; you do tend to excel at withholding the truth."

"I'm sorry, like _really _sorry. I wanted to tell you but...but I didn't exactly know how to start. You're kind of an intimidating person to give bad news to."

Regina gave her a look that she'd given to Henry many times, when she was deeply disappointed in him. "Did you honestly just blame me for your lack of forthrightness? Because I 'frighten' you?"

"No, I didn't mean that you were _scary_ or anything – this isn't an 'Evil Queen' thing…" Emma cringed at the look shot in her direction at the use of the much hated title she'd promised not to use. "You just don't really inspire calm in the face of unpleasant news."

"What exactly did you think was going to do to you when you told me? And I swear to God, if you say you thought I'd curse you, I will…"

Emma cut her off, not really wanting to hear the punishment for such an offense. "I don't know," she mumbled self-consciously, "I spent my childhood bouncing from foster home to foster home. I went to jail at eighteen and had Henry in there! I...I didn't want you to think I was any more of a mess than I already am."

"Emma, I don't think you're a mess," Regina with gentleness surprising for the middle of an argument. "I think you're an idiot sometimes, but that's probably just in your genes. But I've been honest with you about my misdeeds, which wasn't easy, and I expected the same from you because you promised that I would get that. Are there any more children that popped out of you that I should know about? Does she have a twin? Or maybe Henry has a younger sibling you also forgot to mention?"

"No!" Her head shot up, eyes wide as if the very prospect was terrifying. "No. Only two. I promise."

She shook her head again as if said promise were laughable. "How is that not once, but twice, you've managed to disrupt my life with your forsaken children?" Emma didn't respond, but it was mostly rhetorical anyway. "And to think I honestly thought that your asking for a date would be the last thing you could possibly do to surprise me."

"I swear, I really had no idea this was going to happen," Emma shrugged, sitting down across from Regina, still managing to look sufficiently guilty. "I mean, I figured after sixteen years, she just wasn't interested in meeting me."

"You still could've mentioned it to me," Regina replied sounding momentarily hurt; it would take some time to win back her trust after this. "So…" She leaned back and restored her stoic composure. "Tell me."

Emma sighed. "I was sixteen. I'd been dating this guy for almost three years and I was sure I was in love with him – more than I ever loved Neal. He was the best thing in my life, my best friend. Then at the winter formal, I was deflowered in the back of his mom's minivan, drunk on Zima, to the soundtrack of 'Two Princes' by the Spin Doctors." At Regina's look, she gave a humorless laugh, "Magical, I know. A few weeks later, I found out I was pregnant – for which my foster parents kicked me back to the group home, by the way. But before I could tell him, he was killed in a car accident."

Regina gave her a sympathetic half-smile and reached across to rest a hand on her knee. "Was it True Love?" she asked.

"It felt like it…but it's hard to tell, I was sixteen." Emma shrugged. "Obviously, given that I was still basically an orphan, I wasn't exactly equipped for child-rearing, especially as a single parent, so I gave her up. I was told she'd get placed no problem and that was the last I heard of it."

"But she wasn't adopted?" While she wasn't entirely familiar with the adoption process (when Gold wasn't involved), she found it hard to believe a baby hadn't been quickly snapped up by parents.

"Apparently, she was born with a heart defect and no one wanted to sign on for a kid on the operating table. And by the time she was healthy, she was three and – as I remember – no one particularly wants toddlers."

"Did you tell her you were also in the foster system?" Regina raised a brow; it was quite a remarkable coincidence really.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I figured the best way to ingratiate myself with the daughter that hates my guts for abandoning her was to tell her I gave her the crappy life I had."

"Right." Regina studied the other woman for a long moment, gauging her mental state after the events of the day. "You do realize no sane judge is going to grant this girl legal adulthood, right?"

Evidently, she hadn't thought it through too far. After an extended pause, Emma said thoughtfully, "You want to know the weirdest part? Lux's father…his name was Daniel. Freaky coincidence, huh?"


	3. Chapter 3

"I really wish you hadn't insisted on wearing that hideous jacket," Regina whispered to Emma, eyeing the red leather with obvious distaste. "We're in a court of law, the accepted paradigm is to dress nicely."

"Hey," Emma shrugged, "I'm not wearing a prison jumpsuit, so it's an improvement over the last time."

Regina shook her head and gave an exasperated sigh, but said nothing more. At least the teenaged Emma clone managed to look a little more presentable, though not by much.

"You didn't have to come with me," Emma said quietly. She had a feeling Regina was still at least a little bit mad over the whole debacle.

"Yes, well, I thought you might need the moral support." There was a long pause. "And I wanted to keep you from doing something stupid." Of course, Emma had a snappy retort ready, but Regina silenced her before she could get it out.

"I see you turn sixteen tomorrow," the judge remarked, looking at Lux's file.

The teenager stood straighter, appearing to attempt to feign confidence. "Yes – and I'll be old enough to get emancipated and I can get my GED, get a job…"

"And is this is your case worker here?"

"I am, your honor," the case worker spoke up, "I've only been with Lux a few months; she tends to change hands often."

"I see that – seven different foster homes."

"That's not really my fault," Lux rushed to supply.

The judge raised a brow. "And whose is it? Surely you're not saying it's the seven different families that tried to take you in?"

"No, I mean…" Lux stammered, "I _wanted_ a good home, the State of Maine just hasn't provided me with one."

"So, you have no permanent place of residence as of today?" The judge looked less than thrilled.

"Well, as soon as my petition is granted, there's a studio not far from my school."

"You're going to afford an apartment on what income?"

Lux appeared to sense this was heading decidedly _not_ in her favor. "I have three thousand dollars in the bank."

"And who's going to co-sign your rental agreement?"

Lux jutted out her chin in indignance. "The whole point of getting emancipated is that I won't _need_ it co-signed."

"No landlord is going to rent to a minor."

"I'll co-sign, your honor," Emma said, jumping to her feet. Regina dropped her head to her hands; this was _exactly _what she'd predicted happening.

The judge looked in their direction, expression somewhere close to displeasure. "I'm sorry, who are you?" she pointed towards the woman who'd interrupted.

"She's…my birth mother," Lux muttered, appearing not to be too happy about it either.

The judge gestured for Lux's file to be handed to her. "Ma'am, you're a town sheriff? In possession of a working vehicle. Spent time in jail for a juvenile offense, but a clean record for the past ten years." She looked up to consider Emma.

"I'm sorry, what is going on!?" Lux asked, brows knit in confusion.

"I'm going to be very straight with you," the judge said, staring directly at Lux. "I am _not_ granting you emancipation; you have no income, you have no permanent residence, you filed a fee waiver to cover your court costs. Emma Swan is still legally your parent."

"Actually, she's not," Lux said sounding almost angry. "I had that paper signed!"

"That signature was neither witnessed nor notarized. So, unless anyone here has any objections, I'm releasing you back into her temporary custody."

* * *

"How did I know something like this would happen?" Regina asked Emma, raising a brow.

"What was I supposed to do?" Emma shrugged as if it had been completely out of her control. "Say no to the judge? Send her back to foster care?"

"I don't think you've thought this all the way through," Regina insisted. "Taking care of Henry is one thing, taking care of a sixteen year old girl is completely different. Especially one not only with a heart condition, but also undoubtedly emotionally damaged from growing up without a stable home."

"I was a foster kid too, Regina, I think I can figure out how to parent one."

"Remember you said that a few months from now…I strongly suspect you'll come to regret those words."

Just then, Lux came stomping down the steps outside the courthouse towards them. "Well, that was the opposite of getting emancipated."


	4. Chapter 4

Snow and Charming – or Mary Margaret and David as Emma had _insisted_ they introduce themselves to their sixteen year old granddaughter when they meet for the first time – stood awkwardly outside Regina's home where Emma had moved in, despite their objections. It was still an uncomfortable idea for them to willingly attend a party, of all things, at their arch-nemesis' residence, but Emma had insisted they come seeing as the teenager knew no one in the town and it was her birthday.

They had a feeling that the request for their presence was equally, if not more important to Emma than it was to the younger girl, since they'd likely both had more than their fair share of birthdays spent celebrating alone. It was deeply saddening to them as parents and grandparents, but there was nothing they could do about the past, so at least they could try to make Lux's Sweet Sixteen special. Even if it meant being pleasant and socializing with Regina.

Before long, the sound of Henry sprinting down the stairs to answer the door could be heard, followed quickly by Regina's reprimand to stop running in her house before he breaks something. He let his grandparents in with a lopsided grin, knowing that they'd heard.

"Well, don't you look handsome," Snow said, smiling at him, instantly causing a signature teenage scowl to cross his face.

"Mom made me dress up," he grumbled, running a hand over his neatly combed hair, trying to get it to stick up in his signature scraggly mop again. "I look like a dork."

Charming winked at him. "Trust me, the ladies like a well-dressed man." Henry's cheeks flushed a deep tomato red.

Henry stood back to let them into the house, then disappeared into the living room where he was playing some kind of board game with Ruby and Emma (because Regina has insisted video games weren't 'social' enough for a party) and Lux was nowhere to be seen. Snow and Charming were left alone in the large kitchen with Regina.

Snow set the gift they'd brought down on the kitchen counter; it had been a last minute purchase and they'd had to guess what she'd like, but they hadn't wanted to turn up empty-handed. "Thank you for inviting us," she said trying to fill her voice with enthusiasm, "We're looking forwards to getting to know Lux."

_Emma hadn't actually broken the news to them that they had a granddaughter until the previous night._

_She'd shown up unexpectedly, obviously intending to talk to them about something, but continually finding things to distract from said topic. She was admittedly not the most eloquent person in the world, especially when it was an uncomfortable subject and, more often than not, she just preferred to hold it in rather than be put on the spot._

_She ended up waiting until almost the very last second to actually come out and say it._

_It was remarkably similar to the day she'd confessed to being in love with Regina, so they were admittedly nervous about what she had to say. Charming reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder and sighed, "Emma..."_

_"Don't 'Emma' me…" She cocked her head to the side, feeling a little like a five year old caught with her hand in the cookie jar as her parents looked at her with that concerned look with just a hint of scolding. She let out a breathy whine in defeat. "Fine. Just…please don't be mad."_

_"Emma, honey, you can tell us anything."_

_"Alright," Emma sighed, clapping her hands together in a fit of nervous energy. "Alright. So, the whole thing with having Henry was kind of only half the story. Before I met Neal there was another boyfriend whom I loved. I was sixteen when I ended up pregnant…I had to give her up because I was still in foster care and the father died before she was born."_

_She'd barely gotten the words out before Snow had engulfed her in a consoling bone-crushing hug, a deep pitying sadness in her eyes. Emma was almost overwhelmed by the wave of guilt she felt radiating off of her mother._

_"But she never ended up getting adopted and a judge sort of released her into my custody… So, now she's living with me and Regina." And since she really didn't feel like discussing the matter any further, knowing they were prone to talk about 'feelings' and 'family', she was halfway out the door. "Come over tomorrow. It's her birthday, we're having a party."_

"Emma insisted," Regina replied, though her tone was civil. "Unfortunately, it seems that I'm stuck with having you as extended family, with your remarkable ability to turn my life upside down."

"Well, we are a family now. We share everything, the good and the bad," Snow said, surprised that Regina had sort of accepted them.

"Do me a favour. Share less," the older woman said, her lips quirking up, despite her best efforts to appear displeased.

"We'll try."

When silence fell, eager to keep the peace between them, Charming asked, "Is Lux excited about the party?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Regina turned and busied herself with putting candles on the small cake she'd made last minute. "She's spent the majority of her time barricaded in her bedroom. I'm sure she'll be down soon."

"Well, she's family too now and we're here to make sure she has a happy birthday." Snow's grin was overly cheerful.

"I'm sure Emma made it abundantly clear that for once in your life you'll need to keep a secret because Lux is in no state of mind to deal with the utter bewilderment that is her family tree."

"Oh… But you are going to tell her eventually, right?"

"Tell who what?" The three adults turned to find the young blonde standing awkwardly just outside the kitchen, hands in her pockets, not quite making eye contact with anyone.

Emma came up behind the girl and put her hands on her shoulders. "Surprise. We couldn't forget your birthday…"

"You must be Lux," Snow said, crushing the girl in a hug without warning, leaving Lux stunned, eyes wide and a little alarmed. When she released her, Snow stared at her for a long moment and ran a hand through her hair, taken aback by how much she looked like a young Emma; it was like a window into the years she'd missed in her daughter's life. "I'm Mary Margaret – a…friend of Emma's. Happy Birthday."

"I wanted to invite some of your friends, but I don't know who they are yet, so I had to invite some of my own," Emma piped up. "I hope that's not too lame."

"No one's ever really remembered before," Lux murmured, trying very hard not to let herself smile.

"Come on, you've got to make a wish," David said, gesturing towards the flickering candles on the cake.

Lux moved to look down at the cake, with her name spelled out in icing, and inhaled deeply. Regina pulled back the long curls to keep them from falling into the flames. Lux shut her eyes for a long time before blowing out the candles, with only one left lit.

"You've got to get the last one or it won't come true!" Henry exclaimed.

Lux glanced around the room full of people. "I think it already has…"


	5. Chapter 5

"I may not be the sheriff," a voice drawled from the doorway to her bedroom, "But I'm quite certain that you are legally required to be in school at this moment."

Lux looked up from the beat-up second-hand laptop her boyfriend, Bug, had given her when she'd left so that they could keep in touch while he remained in Portland; she'd been Skyping him, bemoaning the small backwards town she'd ended up in and how badly she wished he was there with her. Her new foster mother stood there in her perfectly pressed pencil skirt and blouse, looking down at Lux with a raised brow and an unreadable expression.

Lux had assumed both women had gone off to work that morning after ushering her and Henry out the door for her first day of school in the new town.

Her career at Storybrooke High School had lasted all of two hours before she had decided the place was definitely not for her.

As she'd tossed her backpack out the window of the first floor girls' washroom, then followed after it, she decided there must not be a whole lot of truancy in this town (although, if stories were to be believed, her 'brother' had done quite a bit of skipping school before she'd come around).

She wasn't entirely sure where she'd go in a new town – an incredibly small new town at that – where she had no friends, no Bug, and parents who actually gave a damn. But that had never stopped her before.

Which is how she'd ended up back in her bedroom, intending to hide until the end of the school day.

When Lux failed to respond, Regina continued, "I don't know how strict your other foster parents were about your attendance, but in Maine, you cannot legally drop-out of school before seventeen. So, as long as you're living with Emma and me, you will be continuing to get an education."

Lux quite obviously rolled her eyes and let out a huff.

Regina assumed Henry hadn't yet given her the whole 'Evil Queen' speech because the girl didn't seem the least bit intimidated. "I'm not trying to be a tyrant here, but if there's anything I can do to prevent it, I will not allow you to make your mother's mistakes. I love the woman, but she'd birthed two illegitimate children and done a stint in jail, all before she was legally able to drink alcohol, so she's obviously not the greatest at making intelligent decisions. I'm not saying it was because she dropped out of high school, but I'm not willing to take that chance."

Lux gave a snort that seemed almost amused, though it could've been irritation.

Regina crossed the room to sit down next to the girl on the bed. "In case you haven't realized, it's a small town, not a lot of places to hide. And I've already found all the good ones during Henry's rebellious phase. Not to mention that Emma's the town sheriff and, as she always brags, she's very skilled at finding people. I'm afraid you're out of luck here." She said it gently, trying to be soft with the girl.

Lux sighed and looked down at her lap guiltily. "I'm sorry I skipped school, I just… I don't fit in there!"

"I'm sure Storybrooke can be a bit of a change of pace after living in Portland."

"No," she grumbled, "It's not that, I've changed schools a dozen times, I've gotten pretty good at it. The people here are just different. They all walk around smiling like idiots!"

Regina had to try quite hard to stifle her laughter, two specific idiots coming immediately to mind.

"I mean, they're nice people, I guess," Lux continued, "But it's not _real_, being happy all the time, it's like they've never had anything bad happen to them…like living in foster care for sixteen years."

Regina was starting to think that perhaps they hadn't adequately prepared the jaded girl for the kind of characters she was likely to encounter in her new environment. She could relate to the teenager, knowing the nauseated feeling she'd gotten from everyone for whom happy endings were taken for granted as a girl who'd struggled through years of misery.

"I'll call the school and tell them you fell ill," Regina murmured, unable to keep herself from running her hand over the utterly familiar blonde curls. "But tomorrow, you're going to school."


End file.
